The Deception of the Enemy and the Flight from God
It is said. If these things are accomplished well while praising God, he says, 'Lord, Lord, who is like you?'; but if they should sin and turn away through which sin works according to malice, casting away all harmony and unity, they are scattered not just anywhere, but in the place of the dead souls.
But this has not arisen from inattention alone, but it is also possible for the eyes of the soul to be lifted toward the Lord, who is able to gather together into himself the things scattered by the adversary, interpreted as 'bones to each one,' and as the Scripture says, 'to each one' giving back to its own harmony. And also, to speak in the plural regarding the dispersion (for 'our bones were scattered'), while the saving thing is spoken of in the singular; for it is not said, 'O Lord, Lord, our eyes are toward you,' but 'my eyes.' For when the spirit of unity is toward the Lord for those seeing toward him, but malice and the dispersion of the bones is a multitude, those experiencing these things say.
Compare this also to the first commandment of God toward Adam, which had the singular regarding the command and the plural regarding the prohibition: 'For the Lord God commanded Adam, saying, From every tree of the garden you may eat, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat; for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die' (Gen 2:16-17). And if in the Decalogue both the commands and prohibitions were expressed in the singular, the things spoken of are not invalidated; for these things will find their own proper interpretation in due time.
Toward you, O Lord, are my eyes, hoping in you; therefore do not let my soul fall, lest it fall down to the pit (Ps 140:8). For even if the bones of each of us were scattered by the adversary, yet I do not hope that you will gather and restore them to their own concord and harmony; if it does not happen by your goodness, not only will my soul not be destroyed, but it will be saved, you guarding me from the snare in which he established it for me. And not from this alone, but also from the stumbling blocks of those working lawlessness, guard me. And perhaps one snare being set for me is the deception of the wicked according to pseudo-orthodoxy, and the other is the stumbling block of those working lawlessness.
And moral wickedness, for the one stumbling in uncertainty, sees many more acting lawlessly; the testimony of this is 'For when iniquity has increased, love will flee' (Ps 140:10), and the proof is also that the trap set deceitfully, the pseudonymous one, is known from the fact that they 'strengthened themselves with a word of evil' and narrated how to hide traps.
If it is spoken concerning the devil, the explanation will be this: the enemy of our race holds a two-edged sword, woven from his various thoughts, all of which are terrible for the purpose of deceiving, which surrounds men and brings them into a fall through sin, so that they are immediately proven sinners, except for those alone who escape him. For we do not ignore his thoughts; indeed, he has caught many and is making them god-makers with nets, which he used as a snare and incense for the two-edged sword for the hunting of the deceived, as it is written in the prophet. But even if sinners fall into his two-edged sword, I, having withdrawn from all material things, am alone, so that when I pass through this timely life, I may escape the multitude of evils and be joined to the Lord, to be with Him in spirit.
No one recognizes the wise of material things and the foolish, since concerning the wise and wisdom they do not even have a concept, but only the wise recognize themselves and their neighbors. 'Since,' he says, 'no one recognizes me,' I have perceived into the right things which I previously looked upon, having had a perception of them, that since something more wise than I has come to be, my heart would come into the right side, perceiving nothing sensible but all things intelligible.
And since everyone who sins flees from God, as it is presented that one who is after transgression is said to 'flee from the face of God,' both Adam and his wife (Gen 3:8); but he who no longer sins but having been made upright speaks 'Flight has perished from me,' that is, wickedness has perished from me, in which those fleeing from God hide. Therefore also there is no one seeking my soul, having been revealed to God and having stood before Him. And 'searching out' indicates an intensification of the search: 'the one searching out'—the lost is sought and is being sought. The same thing is to have perished and to have fled. And he who has come to be in wickedness does not even repent.
Greek
ει ρηται. ταῦτα εἰ μὲν κατωρθωμένως ἐπιτελοῖντο ὑμνοῦντα θεὸν ἐρεῖ Κύριε κύριε τίς ο μοιός σοι; εἰ δ' ἁμαρτάνοιεν καὶ διαστρέφοιντο δι' αὐτοῦ τοῦ κατὰ κακίαν ἐνεργεῖν, πᾶσαν συμφωνίαν καὶ ἑνότητα ἀποβάλλουσαι διασκεδάννυνται οὐχ ο που ε τυχεν ἀλλ' ε νθα τὸ χωρίον τῶν νεκρωθεισῶν ψυχῶν. ἀλλ' ου ν εἰ καὶ τοῦτο ἐξ ἀπροσεξίας ὑπῆρκται, ἀλλὰ καὶ δυνατὸν τοὺς τῆς ψυχῆς ὀφθαλμοὺς α ραι πρὸς τὸν κύριον τὸν δυνάμενον εἰς ταὐτὸν συναγαγεῖν τὰ διασκορπισθέντα παρὰ τὸν ᾳ δην ἡρμηνευμένα ὀστᾶ ω στε ε καστον ἑκάστῳ, καὶ ὡς ἡ γραφὴ ει πεν ̔Εκάτερον ἑκατέρῳ, ἀποδοῦναι τῇ οἰκείᾳ ἁρμονίᾳ. Ευ δὲ καὶ τὸ πληθυντικῶς ἐπὶ τοῦ διασκορπισμοῦ φάναι (∆ιεσκορπίσθη γὰρ τὰ ὀστᾶ ἡμῶν), ἑνικῶς εἰρημένου τοῦ σωτηριώδους· οὐ γὰρ ει ρηται Οτι πρὸς σέ, κύριε κύριε, οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ἡμῶν, ἀλλ' Οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου. ὁτὲ γὰρ πρὸς κύριον τὸ νεῦμα ἑνότης τῶν πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁρώντων, ὁτὲ δὲ κακία καὶ τῶν ὀστῶν διασκορπισμὸς πλῆθος, λέγοντες οἱ ταῦτα παθόντες. παραβαλεῖς τούτοις καὶ τὴν πρώτην πρὸς τὸν ̓Αδὰμ θεοῦ ἐντολήν, ἐπὶ μὲν τῆς προστάξεως τὸ ἑνικόν, ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς ἀπαγορεύσεως τὸ πληθυντικὸν ε χουσαν· Καὶ ἐνετείλατο γάρ φησι κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῷ ̓Αδάμ ̓Απὸ παντὸς ξύλου τοῦ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ βρώσει φάγῃ, ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ ξύλου τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρὸν οὐ φάγετε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ· ῃ δ' α ν ἡμέρᾳ φάγητε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, θανάτῳ ἀποθανεῖσθε, ει πεν. εἰ δὲ ἐν τῇ δεκαλόγῳ καὶ αἱ προστάξεις καὶ ἀπαγορεύσεις ἑνικῶς ἐξηνέχθησαν, οὐκ ἀθετεῖται τὰ ε ναγχος ῥηθέντα· καὶ ταῦτα γὰρ οἰκείας ἐξηγήσεως κατὰ καιρὸν τεύξεται. 1232 Ps 140,8b.9 Πρὸς σέ, ω κύριε, η ρα τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου, ἐλπίσας ἐπὶ σέ· διὸ μὴ ἀντανέλῃς τὴν ψυχήν μου, ὡς τέλεον αὐτὴν ἐκπεσεῖν. εἰ γὰρ καὶ διεσκορπίσθη τὰ ὀστᾶ ἑκάστου ἡμῶν παρὰ τὸν ᾳ δην, ἀλλ' ου ν ἐλπίζω ο τι συνάξας ἀποκαταστήσεις αὐτὰ τῇ οἰκείᾳ συμφωνίᾳ καὶ ἁρμονίᾳ· ου γενομένου τῇ σῇ ἀγαθότητι, οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἀναιρεθήσεται ἡ ψυχή μου ἀλλὰ καὶ σωθήσεται, σου φυλάττοντός με ἀφ' η ς συνεστήσαντό μοι παγίδος. οὐκ ἐκ μόνης δὲ ταύτης ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπὸ σκανδάλων τῶν ἐργαζομένων τὴν ἀνομίαν φυλάξεις με. Καὶ τάχα παγὶς μὲν συνισταμένη μοι πρὸς τῶν πονηρῶν ἡ κατὰ ψευδοδοξίαν ἀπάτη ἐστί, τὸ δὲ τῶν ἐργαζομένων τὴν ἀνομίαν σκάνδαλον ἡ ἠθικὴ κακία, τοῦ ἀβεβαίου σκανδαλιζομένου, ο ταν πλείονας ὁρᾷ ἀνομοῦντας· τούτου μαρτύριον τὸ ∆ιὰ τὸ πληθυνθῆναι τὴν ἀνομίαν φυγήσεται ἡ ἀγάπη τῶν πολλῶν, ἀπόδειξις τοῦ καὶ τὴν συσταθεῖσαν ἀπατηλῶς παγίδα τὴν ψευδώνυμον ει ναι γνῶσιν ἐκ τοῦ ̓Εκραταίωσαν ἑαυτοῖς λόγον πονηρόν, διηγήσαντο τοῦ κρύψαι παγίδας. 1233 Ps 140,10 Εἰ μὲν περὶ τοῦ διαβόλου λέγοιτο, ἐξήγησις ε σται τοιαύτη· ἀμφίβληστρον ε χει ὁ ἐχθρὸς τοῦ γένους ἡμῶν πεπλεγμένον ἐκ τῶν ποικίλων αὐτοῦ νοημάτων πάντων τυγχανόντων δεινῶν πρὸς τὸ ἀπατῆσαι, ῳ περιβάλλων τοὺς ἀνθρώπους δι' ἁμαρτίας εἰς πτῶμα φέρει, ὡς εὐθὺς αὐτοὺς 262 ἁμαρτωλοὺς ἀποδείκνυσθαι, μόνων ἐκφευγόντων αὐτὸ τῶν δυναμένων εἰπεῖν Οὐ γὰρ αὐτοῦ τὰ νοήματα ἀγνοοῦμεν· ο θεν καὶ πολλοὺς ἀγρεύσας θεοποιῶν τὰ δίκτυα, οι ς πρὸς θήραν τῶν ἠπατημένων ἐχρήσατο θεοῦ ἐπὶ σαγήνῃ καὶ θυμίᾳ τῷ ἀμφιβλήστρῳ ὡς ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ γέγραπται. ̓Αλλ' εἰ καὶ πεσοῦνται ἐν ἀμφιβλήστρῳ αὐτοῦ ἁμαρτωλοί, ἀλλ' ἐγὼ πάντων ἀναχωρήσας τῶν ὑλικῶν κατὰ μόνας εἰμί, ε ως α ν παρέλθω τὸν ἐπίκηρον βίον καὶ τῶν κακῶν τὸ πλῆθος καὶ κολληθῶ τῷ κυρίῳ ἐπὶ τῷ ε ν πνεῦμα πρὸς αὐτὸν γενέσθαι. 1234 Ps 141,5 Οὐδεὶς ἐπιγινώσκεται τὸ σοφὸν τῶν ὑλικῶν καὶ ἠλιθίων, ἐπεὶ περὶ τοῦ σοφοῦ καὶ τῆς σοφίας διάληψιν οὐδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ε χουσι, μόνων τῶν σοφῶν ἐπιγινωσκόντων ἑαυτούς τε καὶ τοὺς παραπλησίους. ἐπεὶ ου ν, φησίν, οὐκ η ν ὁ ἐπιγινώσκων με, ἐγὼ κατενόουν εἰς τὰ δεξιὰ οι ς ἐπιβλέπω πρότερον ἐσχηκὼς αὐτῶν κατανόησιν, ι να ε τι σοφωτέρου μου γεγενημένου ε τι μᾶλλον ἡ καρδία μου εἰς δεξιὰν ε λθοι οὐδὲν αἰσθητὸν ε τι ἀλλὰ πάντα νοητὰ θεωροῦσα. καὶ ἐπεὶ πᾶς ὁ ἁμαρτάνων φεύγει θεόν, ὡς παρίσταται ἐκ τοῦ μετὰ παράβασιν λέγεσθαι Καὶ ε φυγον ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ ο τε ̓Αδὰμ καὶ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ, ὁ μηκέτι ἁμαρτάνων ἀλλὰ κατορθώσας ἀναμαρτησίαν ἐρεῖ ̓Απώλετο φυγὴ ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, τουτέστιν ἀπώλετο ἀπ' ἐμοῦ κακία εἰς η ν κρύπτονται καὶ χωροῦσιν οἱ φεύγοντες θεόν. διὸ καὶ οὐκ ε στιν ὁ ἐκζητῶν τὴν ψυχήν μου, φανερωθεῖσαν θεῷ καὶ παραστᾶσαν ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ. ζητήσεως δ' ἐπίτασιν δηλοῖ τὸ ̓Εκζητῶν· ζητεῖται καὶ ἐκζητεῖται τὸ ἀπολωλός. ταὐτὸν δὲ τὸ ἀπολωλέναι καὶ πεφευγέναι. καὶ ὁ ἐν κακίᾳ δὲ γεγονὼς ο τε μετανοεῖν
About this text
Discover how early Christians interpreted the Psalms as divine messages and prophecies about salvation and judgment.
Original English Translation — new OET from PG Greek.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.